The Diego Diaries: Home (663)
-0-On Titan
They stared at the forward screen, at the sight of two of the oldest city-formers ever seen holding nearby in the darkness of space. Their running lights were visible including one that was spinning slowly, a beacon in the cold vacuum of space. Ratchet walked to the monitor to peer at the two ghosts from nearly the time of the Thirteen. Their massive bodies bore the script of the Ancients, the glyphs that proclaimed their magnificence.
They were love poems, words that told of eternal fidelity. Some of them were directed to The One and Primus. Others were for the citizens of Cybertron, the ones to whom they dedicated their lives and goodwill. Ratchet turned to Prime. "I would like to go over there and see for myself. I am at a loss for words to understand."
Prime nodded. "I will go with you." He turned to Prowl. "Can you please run the operation? I will come if you require me."
Prowl nodded, then watched as the two along with Wheeljack, Perceptor and Alor followed. Ironhide who would have but for the gimlet optic he got from 'Mom' sat fuming.
A short walk through the space bridge brought them to the immense hangar deck of Metro-Hex. It was dark but for a pool of light that he had turned on for them. They felt rather than saw the other who was there. It was very close by, the fit inside the hangar deck a snug one. Prime cleared his mind, then extended his energy meeting anothers as he did. It was youthful and concerned.
Then the lights came on everywhere in the vast space.
-0-On the command ship of Trannis and his group
The ship was parked on the planetoid that they had chosen to dig out for a base. That structure was completely enclosed, all of the groundwork laid for the interior work. It was imposing and without frills. It looked impregnable. It would be one of many items for discussion at the next staff meeting whenever that was. For now it was an obstacle to overcome.
The bridge crew had sent mechs out to lay down the law. It had resulted in several fights and vicious verbal slagging matches but they had triumphed. Images of the children had reached a great deal of them but it was amazing how many didn't find that a good enough reason to surrender to Prime.
Old hatreds die hard.
In the end, their fists were outnumbered by those who wanted to see an end game to being lost in space without a real purpose in sight. They had all heard of Prime's efforts, that he was making a city in the wilderness and that if one came with good intentions there was room for you to stay. The idea of living among Autobots was tempered by the reality of former Decepticons already happily among them.
Now they would find out. Their leader, a mech named Sander walked from the command ship to the vessels where the remaining refugees waited in fear, peering out of the hatches to watch the strange new orders transpire. They shrank back when he paused by them, an action that wouldn't have even been noted by him a single joor before. He would have welcomed it but not so much at this moment. :Prime is coming. We took over the command and relieved Trannis of it. When Prime comes go with him. He will make sure you are okay:
They looked at him, then an older mech nodded. Sander considered that, then moved onward to tell others. By the time he was finished checking to see if things were ready Prime had signaled he was coming. Now would be the time of reckoning for them all.
He continued to all of the ships into which every civilian had been consolidated. Others stood empty almost mocking him as he passed. By the time he reached the last one the skies had become filled with the running lights of Autobot shuttles. They had come at last. He looked at them, then turned to walk to where one was setting down. He would help, then be taken into custody himself.
-0-The hold of Metro-Hex
They stood together staring in disbelief at something that had never been known to be possible. Ratchet blinked, then looked around for a moment as if to ascertain explanations from the thin air. Stepping closer, he looked at the creature before him. "Metro-Hex, tell me about this wonderful thing."
A deep prideful voice softly replied. "That is Swan."
-0-On the way to the rescue
They had landed, all of them moving heavily armed to the various vessels sitting around the area. Over a dozen battle shuttles filled with soldiers were on the ground. Medics came with them running to the civilian vessels that dotted the area. It was chaos for a moment as civilians pressed for information on their missing relatives. It would take a while before everything was organized and locked down. The Decepticons as sullen as they were gave fewer problems to their 'saviors' than the civilians.
-0-Metro-Hex
"Swan?" Prime asked.
"Our son," he said proudly.
"That isn't possible is it?" Optimus asked.
Metro-Hex chuckled softly. "There is a process. He is the end product."
Another voice filtered over the comm system. "He is our greatest glory, Prime. We came here with him to keep him safe. We are hunted in the universe. We spent time in other dimensions so that he would be able to mature enough to come with us. Yet in the end we had to carry him anyway."
"You will be safe with us, Metro-Hex. We have many of your family in our colony and they will be deeply happy to see you. All of you," Prime said as he turned to walk to the small vessel that was sitting silently on the deck of his genitor in a very adolescent ship format.
He was huge for a mechanism resting nearby to the Autobots who were next to him, enormous but tiny in relation to the two vessels who claimed him as son. He resembled them in ship mode, better to fit for the journey in transport but there were differences. He had no weapons, just beautiful lines and places for weapons at some point. He was without some of the technical apparatus that made his kind so formidable and efficient.
His antenna were smaller than they would be at some time along with the rest of him but it was evident that they would frame his face in the same way as his genitors. "Swan, you are welcome," Prime said as he stopped beside the mechanism. He placed his servo on the hull of the youngling feeling the rush of energy in the mettalic skin.
"You are the Prime?" a youthful voice asked from somewhere inside the mechanism.
"I am. Optimus Prime," he replied.
"You carry the Matrix?" the voice asked, a young voice filled with curiosity.
"I do," Prime replied as the others came closer. Ratchet placed his servo on the youngling seeking some baseline of information for this inexplicable miracle.
"Can I see it?" the youngling asked.
A soft chiding sound greeted that from one of the adults. "We need to assist the Prime, Swan. Maybe at some point we will have time."
Optimus grinned. "I do not mind." He stepped back, then his chassis opened revealing the glowing blue light of the spark of Primus inside.
It was silent a moment, then the infant seemed to chuckle. "That is pretty," he said. "Is that the spark of Primus?"
"It is," Optimus said as the youngling's energy gently bumped against his own.
"You have a piece of the spark of our god inside you," Swan said with a touch of awe in his voice. "My atar knew Him."
"We all have one, infant," Ratchet said patting the hull of the youngster. "You have a pretty wonderful youngling, Hex. I would love to know how you did it."
"I will tell you, Doctor. I remember meeting you long ago when you were part of the Supreme program," Metro-Hex said.
Ratchet nodded. "I remember. Six or so of that family are waiting to see you. Fort Max, Metroplex, Metrobase, 'Con and Acroplex too. We all are waiting."
"And we are weary of solitude. We seek home too," Metro-Hex said.
"You need to follow us. We are mopping up here and will be going home through space bridges shortly. Do you have needs to be met? We can help you here or there," Prime said.
"We are needful of food. Our son is getting our best care," the other mech said, the one they would understand was named Hydrax after the plateau where he was guardian in the dim orns of the past.
"Ratchet, please supervise the tankers to assist these bots to replenish themselves until we go home," Optimus said. His chassis closed as he spoke.
"That was pretty," the infant said with a touch of regret. "I liked it."
Prime grinned. "Then I am glad. We will assist all three of you and when its time to go we will take you home. Metrotitan will lead you and answer any questions you may have now. I leave them in your capable servos, Metrotitan."
"Thank you, Prime. I am honored to serve. I am delighted with the infant. I was not aware of any in our past," Titan said.
"We have much to tell you then," Hydrax said. "It will be our delight to do so."
Prime turned with the others following. They would bridge over to Salton Sea swiftly. Gathering on the command module Ratchet grinned. "I know something you don't know."
"Spit it out, sister," Prowl said glancing up from the data pad with a smirk.
Ratchet snorted, then grinned. "You didn't say please," Ratchet said sitting down on a free chair. "Those two ships have a son. His name is Swan and from what I can detect he is just this side of a sparkling."
"Is he that young?" Prime asked as he sat himself. The others pulled up chairs while Wheeljack and Perceptor sat down at empty console chairs.
"That young?" Perceptor echoed. "I want to know how they did it."
"Why, Percy … you shock me," Ratchet chided with a grin.
Perceptor flustering looked at Ratchet with a cross expression. "You know what I mean."
"I do," Ratchet replied. "I am thinking it would be a process of some sort of spontaneous generation or some sort of metallico-biopoiesis without the bio but with energy, not dirt or some such slag."
"WHAT THE FRAG ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, OLD MECH!?" Ironhide asked for everyone else who nodded in agreement. What the frag was Old Mech going on about?
"Both deal with the fallacious idea of nonliving things generating living things. There was the idea among humans that if you put food scraps into a corner of your house it would generate mice. It did but the mice didn't come from the rotting food. They came FOR it. Humans didn't have too many marbles then."
"You mean that doesn't happen?" Alor asked with a smirk. "Learn something every orn."
Ratchet and Alor grinned at each other.
"Then consider spontaneous generation or mechanical poiesis with the resulting outcome a sparkling metro-former. Consider energetic parthenogenesis as applied to us," Ratchet began as he started to warm to the topic.
"You consider it. I need a drink," Ironhide said with a grin.
"Slagger," Ratchet said with his own grin.
"'Jack and I tried to warn you," Alor said with a chuckle.
"That's right. Kick Ironhide's aft," Ironhide said with a smirk.
Alor leaned forward across the table and offered his thumb.
Laughter greeted that exchange. Ironhide sat back with a shake of his helm. "If I were 100% you wouldn't be doing this. I AM IRONHIDE! DESTROYER OF WORLDS!"
"I was reminded that I was Lord Starscream, Emperor of Destruction once too. See how far that got me?" Starscream said with a wicked grin.
Laughter greeted that, then a message came over the speaker system. "Kup to Prime."
"Prime here."
"We're ready to go. We have Trannis on a short leash. The others are frisked and ready to toss in the prison. The refugees aren't that bad off but we didn't tell them about the injured. Figured that would be better on the ground back home."
"Agreed," Prime said. "Prepare to leave. Follow Prowl's orders of departure."
Prowl rose and walked to a console nearby as the group relaxed a moment.
"This could have been really fragged," Ratchet said glancing at Prime. "But we get a fort out of it."
Prime nodded. "I intend to study it and if its up to specs, post a garrison here. We have acid monsters nearby we have to deal with and if there are more refugees coming this way we have to be here when they come. It might do the newcomers out here some good to show the flag."
"I agree," Ironhide said with a nod.
Prowl turned, then walked back to sit. He pulled Sojourner out of his carry hold handing her to Optimus. "We have a funeral to finish when we get back too." It was silent a moment, then Prowl sat back. "There's also that planet we have to move."
Ratchet snorted. "You have a way with words for a whiner."
Prowl pulled out another infant from his carry hold snuggling him in his arm. Prowler smiled up at Uncle Namesake as that slagger grinned at Ratchet and Ironhide who blinked with surprise. "You don't say, loser. Losers."
Prime snorted, then chuckled. "I could brig you both."
"You have." -Everyone at the table including Prowl and Ratchet.
-0-TBC March 26, 2014 edited 3-29-14
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